William Lyon Homes (WLH)

[PennyP1cker]

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--William Lyon Homes (the “Company” or “William Lyon Homes”) (NYSE: WLH), a leading homebuilder in the Western U.S., today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RSI Communities (“RSI”), a Southern California and Texas based homebuilder, and three additional related real estate assets for an aggregate cash purchase price of approximately $460 million. The transaction marks the Company’s entry into Texas and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions.

RSI Communities has operated in the Inland Empire of Southern California and the Austin and San Antonio, Texas markets since being founded by Newport Beach based entrepreneur and building products veteran, Ron Simon, and 30-year homebuilding veteran, Todd Palmaer. As of December 31, 2017, RSI owned or controlled 11,128 lots, including 6,895 in Austin, Texas, 1,060 in San Antonio, Texas and 3,173 in the Inland Empire, California. RSI primarily targets the entry level and first time buyer segments.

Comments:
$42,000 per lot purchase price, approx. I like the Inland Empire exposure but I'm not as excited about the high price for the Austin and San Antonio lots. Overall, I'd say it's good news...the new normal of high lot prices.